Overview
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Overview

SCP 50, ENG, CMPLT, CLAS, PHIL 74.7

Click here to download the syllabus.

Spring 2008
W, 4:10-6:40 PM
3 hours; 3 credits

Office hours: W, 2-4 PM, Macaulay Center
Telephone: 212-729-2936 (O)
leequinby@aol.com

Tech Fellow: Jeff Drouin, jeff.drouin@mhc.cuny.edu
Office Hours: W, 3-4 PM, Macaulay Center

Course Requirements

Participation: This is a seminar, and therefore I place emphasis on active and thoughtful discussion. Students must attend each class, arrive on time, regularly contribute to class and online discussions, and take part in the March Conference. Your class participation will be judged on the basis of your grasp of the key arguments of the assigned texts, including the films, your respect for other class members’ and my points of view (as shown in the way you respond to others’ ideas), and your attentiveness to the discussion.

Mid-term Exam: This will be an open-book, in-class exam.

Group Project: This is a collaborative venture in which 2-3 students create their “take” on an apocalyptic or millennial theme, explore its history and its contemporary context, and engage viewers in a creative presentation of it. Group Projects will be put online by the final class of the semester. Suggestions include a short film, a fine arts gallery, a short story, a booklet of original doomsday cartoons, a comic book, or a music video.

Final Essay: The focus of your final essay should reflect your course designation (English, Classics, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, or Interdisciplinary). It may be written in concert with the focus of your group project, although this is not a requirement. It should be 12-15 pages in length and should incorporate 4-5 sources from the required and recommended reading lists. Additional outside should be used, but they do not replace this requirement. The essay is due at the beginning of our scheduled Final Exam period. During that period, each student will present his or her thesis to the class, indicating how the essay develops and supports it.

Grading

Grades will be based on the following percentages:

  • In-class participation—10%
  • Online participation—10%
  • Conference and Film participation—10%
  • Midterm examination—20%
  • Group Project—20%
  • Final essay and presentation—30%

 

Course objectives

Knowledge Bases

Students should:

  • develop ability to understand and analyze texts with apocalyptic themes and images
  • develop understanding of apocalyptic texts in their interdisciplinary contexts (e.g., cultural, social, historical, scientific, psychological, and political)
  • understand rhetorical strategies and gendered elements of apocalyptic discourse
  • learn to appreciate textual and imagistic complexity, ambiguity, and paradox
  • learn to identify apocalyptic styles in the context of historical periods
  • develop ability to use technology as a learning/teaching tool
  • develop understanding of interrelation of language, culture, and society

Academic Skills

Students should:

  • be able to reason, think critically, evaluate, use evidence, and make judgments
  • be able to write clearly and imaginatively, in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes and audiences
  • use appropriate conventions of language, including correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation
  • be able to revise be able to use the library to find appropriate print and electronic sources
  • develop a sense of fairness, objectivity, and accuracy in reporting
  • understand the ethics of research and writing, including the proper citation, and integration, of source materials into their work and the meaning and consequences of plagiarism
  • develop listening skills develop ability to speak effectively

Social and Personal Skills

Students should:

  • learn to be self-reflecting
  • develop ability to work cooperatively
  • engage in civil debate
  • develop respect for both intellectual and cultural diversity